APPENDICES

Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s

DANTIN

[donh-TANH]

ACADIA

Louis Dantin dit La Joye, born in Paris in c1702, married Marguerite, 25-year-old daughter of Marc Lassonde, in c1741 and settled at Port-Toulouse, now St. Peter's, on Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island.  They had at least 10 children, all born on Île Royale.  In 1752, Louis, Marguerite, and five of their children--sons Gabriel, born in c1742, Louis, fils in c1745, Barthélemy in c1748, and Joseph in c1750, and daughter Jeanne, born in c1743--were counted at Port-Toulouse.  Between 1752 and 1758, five more children were born to them--Marguerite, Michel, Jean, Anne, and Agathe.  Louis dit La Joye died probably at Port-Toulouse by late 1758.  He would have been 56 years old that year.

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

Living in territory controlled by France, the Dantins of Port-Toulouse escaped the British roundup of Acadians in Nova Scotia in the fall of 1755.  Their respite from British oppression was short-lived, however.  After the fall of the French fortress at nearby Louisbourg in July 1758, the victorious British rounded up most of the Acadians on Île Royale and deported them to France.  Marguerite, now a widow, and nine of her children made the crossing on the British transport Queen of Spain, which left the Maritimes probably in August.  When the ship reached St.-Malo in late November, only sons Louis, fils, age 13, and Barthélemy, age 10, were still alive; Marguerite and her seven other children had died at sea!  

Louis, fils and Barthélemy settled first at St.-Tual, near St.-Malo, then in St.-Malo itself.  In early 1766, Barthélemy, now 18 and still unmarried, agreed to go to Guinea in South America (now French Guyana) with other Acadians from France.  Older brother Louis, fils, who was 21 and also unmarried, did not go with him.  Barthélemy departed St.-Malo in May 1766 aboard the ship La Tamire.   Remaining in France proved to be a wise choice for Louis, fils, and going to South America proved to be a fatal one for his younger brother.  Barthélemy and many of the other Acadians who went to Guinea died soon after they reached the place.  

Louis, fils became a house carpenter in France and moved to Bécherel, near St.-Malo, where he lived in 1766-67.  He married Jeanne, daughter of Frenchman Gilles Gemier, at St.-André-des-Eaux, south of St.-Malo, in January 1767.  They had four children at St.-André-des-Eaux--twins Louis III and Jeanne, born in August 1768, but Louis III died 12 days after his birth, another Louis III was born in December 1770 but died at age 3 months the following March, and Florian-Gilles was born in May 1772.  In the early 1770s, Louis and Jeanne were among the Acadians who ventured to the Poitou region and tied to make a go of the La Leigne-les-bois settlement, where daughter Marie-Anne was born in March 1774.  Florian-Gilles died in Poitou.  After the Leigne-les-bois venture failed, Louis, fils, Jeanne, and their three remaining children retreated with hundreds of other Poitou Acadians to the port city of Nantes, where three more children were born to them--daughters Anne in c1776, Judith- or Julie-Geneviève in June 1778, and Pérrine in August 1781.  Louis, fils's wife Jeanne died at Nantes in the early 1780s, not quite age 40.  Daughter Pérrine also died at Nantes.  In November 1784, Louis, fils remarried to fellow Acadian Hélène Aucoin, a young widow, at Nantes.  The marriage brought two more children into the family, stepdaughters Francoise-Josèphe Doiron, born at St.-Enogat, near St.-Malo, in April 1768, and Marie-Victoire Doiron, born at St.-Enogat in October 1772.  

For nearly a quarter of a century, Louis Dantin, fils and his ever-changing family had endured the indignities of life in a mother country that sadly neglected its Acadian children.  When the Spanish government in the early 1780s offered the Acadians in France the chance for a new life in faraway Louisiana, Louis, fils and his new wife agreed to take it.  

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

With four daughters from his first marriage--Jeanne, age 16, Marie-Anne, age 11, Anne, age 9, and Judith-Geneviève, age 7--and the two daughters by his wife's first marriage to Alexis-Grégoire Doiron, Louis Dantin, fils sailed with his family to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships of 1785, which reached New Orleans in November.  They followed the majority of the passengers from their ship to Ascension.

While they were still in New Orleans recuperating from the voyage, Louis Dantin, fils's oldest daughter Jeanne married Martin-Bénoni, son of fellow Acadian Paul Pitre, in January 1786.  Martin-Bénoni had crossed from France aboard La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships.  Jeanne and Martin-Bénoni also moved to Ascension, where Louis, fils's second daughter, Marie-Anne, married Guillaume-Bénoni, son of fellow Acadian Étienne Hébert, in January 1793.  Guillaume-Bénoni had come to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié.  

Meanwhile, Louis, fils's wife Hélène died at Ascension in August 1786; she was only 38 years old.  She had given Louis, fils no more children, only two step-daughters.  Louis, fils married a third time, to Marguerite-Blanche, daughter of fellow Acadian Alexis Breaux, at Ascension in July 1787.  Louis, fils's new wife was almost half his age and had been born in France in May 1765.  She had come to Louisiana also aboard L'Amitié, so he may have known her from the voyage over.  

LOUISIANA:  LAFOUCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

During the late 1780s and early 1790s, Spanish officials were counting Louis Dantin, fils and his family on upper Bayou Lafourche.  His two younger daughters by his first wife married and settled there:

Anne Dantin married Pierre-Alexis, son of fellow Acadian Pierre Achée, at Assumption in June 1795.  Pierre had come to Louisiana also aboard L'Amitié. 

Judith-Geneviève Dantin married Jean-Marie, son of fellow Acadian Michel Levron, at Assumption in February 1802.  Jean-Marie had come to Louisiana aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven Ships from France.

Descendants of Louis DANTIN, fils (1745-1826)

Louis, fils took only daughters to Louisiana.  His three sons by his first wife had died in France.  He had no more children by his second wife, who came with him to Louisiana.  However, his young third wife, Marguerite-Blanche Breaux, whom he had married at Ascension, bore him six more sons, all of who created families of their own in the Bayou Lafourche valley.  Louis and Marguerite-Blanche's daughters married into the Boye or Boyer, Este, Leonard, Maronges, and Sanchez families.  Louis Dantin, fils of Île Royale lived to a ripe old age, surrounded by many children and grandchildren.  He died in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1826; he was 81 years old.

1

Oldest son Louis-Francois, by his third wife, baptized at Ascension, age unrecorded, in December 1788, married Anne or Jeanne Rosalie, called Rosalie, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Hébert, at the home of Rosalie's uncle, Joseph Ignace Hébert, in Ascension Parish in October 1808.  Their son Leandre was born in Assumption Parish in March 1811, Louis Lufroi in June 1819, and Jean Charles in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1822 but died at age 2 in March 1824.  Their daughters married into the Boutary, Lana or Lanna, and Legendre families.  Louis Francois died in Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1840; the Thibodeaux priest who recorded his burial said that Louis Francois was age 54 when he died, but he was 51.  Louis Francois's daughter, Marie Rosalie Emesida, called Marie Emesida or just Emesida, married distant cousin Eugene, son of Antoine Boutary, at the Thibodeaux church in March 1842; Eugene's mother, also, was an Hébert.  Eugene died in June 1847, age 31.  A few years later, in December 1851, Marie Emesida gave birth to a son in Lafourche Interior Parish and named him Cleopha Dantin, so she may not have remarried before the boy's birth.  

1a

Leandre married Rosalie, 25-year-old daughter of French Creole Balthasar Triche of St. John the Baptist Parish, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in September 1839.  Leandre died in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1841; he was only 30 years old.  He fathered no sons, so his line of the family died with him.  

1b

Louis Lufroi married Marie Solidele, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Clouâtre, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in May 1840.  Their son Adam André was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in April 1847, and Justin Gustave in April 1853.  Their daughter married into the Pichoff family.  

Adam married French Creole Virginia Deroche in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in March 1869.  

2

Joseph, by his third wife, born at Ascension in September 1791, married Marie Clothilde, called Clothilde, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Janvier Guidry, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in July 1811.  Their son Joseph Firmin was born in Assumption Parish in January 1818, Lufroi in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1820, Charles Omer, also called C. Omer and Omer, in July 1824, Jean David, called David, in late 1828, and Joseph Livodé, called Livodé, in January 1833.  Their daughters married into the Bourg, Boutary, and Guillot families.  Joseph died in a yellow fever epidemic in Lafourche Parish in October 1853; the priest who recorded his burial called him "J." and said that he was 66 years old, but he was 62.  His wife Clothilde and their son David also died in the same yellow fever epidemic.  

2a

Joseph Firmin married Carmelite, 18-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Valery Bourgeois, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in March 1840.  Their son Magloire Alfred was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in April 1843, Joseph Augustin in August 1858, and Henry Valery in January 1864 but died the following July.  Their daughters married into the Chappuis and Rossignol families.  Joseph Firmin remarried to Marie, another daughter of Valery Bourgeois and widow of Joseph Molaison, at the Thibodeaux church in April 1866; he was 48 years old; his second wife was his first wife's sister.  

During the War Between the States, Magloire served in Company G of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Lafourche Parish that saw hard service in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. 

2b

Charles Omer married Marcelline, daughter of fellow Acadian Edouard Bergeron, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1845 or 1846.  Their son Joseph Théophile was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1848, Gustave Aubin in January 1851, Charles Omer, fils in July 1856, Albert Beauregard in April 1861, and Joseph Edouard in January 1865.  Their daughter married a Bergeron cousin.  

2c

Lufroi married Théotilde, daughter of French Creole Louis Daunis, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in November 1849; Théotilde's mother was a Carret.  Lufroi remarried to French Creole Marie Thérèse Caillouet probably in Lafourche Interior Parish in the 1850s.  

2d

Livodé married Élisabeth, daughter of fellow Acadian Célestin Guillot, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Parish, in September 1852 or 1854.  Their son Joseph was born in Lafourche Parish in October 1855, an unnamed child, perhaps a son, died at age 2 years in May 1860, Philippe Anatole was born in November 1861, and Joseph Léon in November 1864.  During the War Between the States, Livodé served in Company D of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Lafourche Parish that fought gallantly at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  

2e

David died in the yellow fever epidemic in Lafourche Parish in October 1853 that killed his father and mother.  The Thibodeaux priest who recorded his burial said that David was 22 years old when he died, but he was 25.  He never married.  

3

Fabien-Sébastien, by his third wife, born at Assumption in December 1793, married Marie Eugenie or Virginie, called Virginie, 16-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Francois Régis Part, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in January 1822.  Their son Fabien D. was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1824 but died at age 2 in February 1826, Louis Sosthène, called Sosthène, was born in April 1828, Charles Bienvenu in September 1837, and Forestide Schuyler in January 1840.  Their daughters married into the Adam, Hébert, Ledet, Lirette, and Putman families.  Fabien, père remarried to fellow Acadian Marguerite Breaux.  Fabien, père died in Lafourche Parish in September 1869; the Thibodeaux priest who recorded his burial said that Fabien was 84 years old when he died, but he was 75.  

Louis Sosthène married Louisa, daughter of Jean Baptiste Rodrigue, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1852.  

4

Charles, by his third wife, born at Assumption in c1797, married Claire, 15-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Simon Francois Guillot, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in June 1820.  Their son Jean Charles Louis, called Louis, was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1824, and Joseph Leclaire in February 1828.  Their daughters married into the Benoit and Farez or Savez families.  Charles died in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1851, in her early 50s.  

4a

Louis married Aurelia, daughter of John Newell or Noel, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in March 1851.  Their daughter married into the Boudreaux family.  

4b

Joseph married Azema Pamela, called Zema, daughter of French Creole Cadet Sevin, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in June 1851; Azema's mother was an Hébert.  Their son Joseph Théophile or Théophile Hippolyte was born in Lafourche Parish in February 1854 but died at age 3 in May 1857, Alcide Arthur was born in July 1857, Joachim Aristide in March 1859, Joseph in February 1863, and Félicien Nicolas in July 1865. 

5

Jean-Baptiste, by his third wife, born at Assumption in February 1799, married Marie Ange, Angele, or Angélique, daughter of Urbin Achete, Chate, Chete, Eschete, Este, Estschetai, Euslite, Flai, Ile, L'Achete, Stai, or Ste, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in April 1819.  Their son Jean Baptiste, fils was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1820 but died at age 9 in March 1829, Jean Octave, called Octave, was born in October 1828, and Elia Gerasime, called Gerasime, in December 1833.  Their daughter married into the Plaisance family.  

5a

Gerasime married Josephine Moran probably in Lafourche Interior Parish in the early 1850s.  Their son Georges Louis was born near Lockport, Lafourche Parish, in July 1863.  

5b

Octave married Eugenia or Eugenie Darbonne or Terrebonne, probably in Lafourche Interior Parish in the early 1850s.  Their son Osessy was born near Raceland, Lafourche Parish, in December 1853, and Octave Grégoire near Lockport in February 1868.  

6

Youngest son Paul, by his third wife, born at Ascension in June 1806, married Azelie or Eliza Isabelle, 17-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Benoît Richard, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in October 1833.  Their son Joseph Paul was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1836, Louis Jules, called Jules, in April 1842, Joseph Alfred, called Alfred, in April 1844, Alsace or Alces Valery in July 1846, Evariste Ernest, called Ernest, in August 1848, and Léo in March 1855.  Their daughter married into the Baye family.  Paul died in Lafourche Parish in December 1856; the priest who recorded his burial said that Paul was 46 years old when he died, but he was 50.  

6a

Joseph Paul married cousin Justine, daughter of Étienne Bénoni Boutary, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Parish, in January 1864; Justine's mother was Scholastique, daughter of Joseph Dantin, and Joseph Paul's first cousin.  Their son Joseph died in Lafourche Parish 3 days after his birth in November 1864.  

6b

Alfred married German Creole Euphrasie Webre in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in December 1866.  

6c

During the War Between the States, Jules served in Company I of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Lafourche Parish that fought gallantly at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Jules married Rosema, daughter of Anglo-American John Brown, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in May 1867.  Their son Joseph Edgard was born near Raceland, Lafourche Parish, in February 1868. 

CONCLUSION

Louis Dantin dit La Joye of Paris, who had settled at Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, now Cape Breton Island, in the early 1740s, fathered 10 children, including six sons, and died during Le Grand Dérangement.  His second son, Louis, fils, born at Port-Toulouse in c1745, lost not only his parents during Le Grand Dérangement but every single one of his siblings.  His first wife gave him three sons, but when he came to Louisiana from France in 1785, he was middle aged, married to a middle-aged widow, and brought with him only daughters.  The Acadian branch of his family, except for its blood, could have died with him, but that did not happen.  In Louisiana, he married a third time to a woman half his age, who gave him six more sons, every one of whom created families of their own.  Louis, fils's descendants settled in the Lafourche and Terrebonne valley. 

When federal census takers counted slaves in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes in 1850 and 1860, no Dantin appeared on the lists of slaveholders, so Louis Dantin, fils's descendants participated only peripherally in the South's antebellum plantation economy.  

At least three members of the family, two grandsons and a great-grandson of Louis Dantin, fils, served Louisiana in uniform during the War Between the States.  All three of them survived the war.  Nevertheless, they and their kinsmen lived in a part of the state that was especially hard hit by the conflict.  Successive Federal invasions devastated the Lafourche and Terrebonne valleys early in the war, and the Yankees occupied most of the region after 1862.  Confederate foragers also plagued the area when the Federals were not around. ...

Thanks to Louis, fils's fecund sons and grandsons, Dantin is a common name in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes today.  It is rare, however, in other parts of Acadiana.  ...

The family's name also is spelled Dantein, Dentin.  

Sources:  BRDR, vols. 2, 3, 4; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4; NOAR, vol. 4; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Reine_d_Espagne.htm>, Family No. 7; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 29; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 49-50; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 253-56.

Settlement Abbreviations 
(present-day parishes that existed during the War Between the States in parenthesis; hyperlinks on the abbreviations take you to brief histories of each settlement):

For a chronology of Acadian Arrivals in Louisiana, 1764-early 1800s, see Appendix.

The hyperlink attached to an individual's name is connected to a list of Acadian immigrants for a particular settlement and provides a different perspective on the refugee's place in family and community. 

NOTES

01.  Wall of Names, 40 (pl. 10L), calls her Anne [DENTIN], & lists her with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 49-50, Family No. 96, calls her Marie [DANTIN], gives her parents' names, & details the family's voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 72-73, calls her Anne DENTIN, age 9, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Anne DANTIN, his [Louis DANTIN's] daughter, age 9, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 30th Family aboard L'Amitié with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; BRDR, 2:2, 220 (ASM-2, 13), her marriage record, calls her Ana DANTIN, gives her & her husband's parents' names, calls her mother Juana GEMIER, says both sets of parents were from Nantes, France, & that the witnesses to her marriage were Louis DANTIN (her father), Juan Bautista CAZEBON, & Pierre ACHÉ.    

02.  Wall of Names, 40 (pl. 10L), calls her Jeanne [DENTIN], & lists her with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 254-55, Family No. 312, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Jeanne DANTIN (twin [of brother Louis III]), gives her parents' names, says she was goddaughter of Augustin GESMIER (probably a maternal uncle) & Marguerite Brind JORG, & that her family resided at St.-André-des-Eauxs from 1767-72; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 29, Family No. 60, calls her Jeanne [DANTIN], gives her parents' names, & details the family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 49-50, Family No. 96, calls her Jeanne [DANTIN], gives her parents' names, & details the family's participation in the Liegne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s as well as its voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 72-73, calls her Jeanne DENTIN, age 16, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Jeanne DANTIN, his [Louis DANTIN's] daughter, age 16, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 30th Family aboard L'Amitié with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; NOAR, 4:72, 251 (SLC, M5, 45), her marriage record, calls her Juana DANTEIN, native of St.-Malo, gives her father's name, calls her mother Maria ___, gives her husband's father's name but not his mother's name, says her husband also was a native of St.-Malo, & that the witnesses to her marriage were Vicente LLORCA & Josef MARTINEZ; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:169 (Thib.Ch.: v.1, p.21), her death/burial record, calls her Jeanne DANTIN m. Martin PITRE, does not gives her parents' names, & says she was 60 years old when she died; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:169 (Thib.Ct.Hse.: Succ.: year 1825), her death/succession record, calls her Jeanne DANTIN m. Martin PITRE, gives her date of date but not her age when she died, and says her children were Julie Félicité [PITRE] m. d.Louis HÉBERT, Joseph Eleonor [PITRE], Jean Pierre Louis [PITRE], Louis Auguste [PITRE], Louis Achille [PITRE], & Mathurin [PITRE], & gives the date of her succession inventory.  

03.  Wall of Names, 40 (pl. 10L), calls her Julie [DENTIN], & lists her with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 49, Family No. 96, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Judith DANTIN, gives her parents' names, does not give her godparents' names, & details the family's voyage to LA in 1785; BRDR, 2:221, her marriage record; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 72-73, calls her Julie DENTIN, age 7, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Julie DANTIN, his [Louis DANTIN's] daughter, age 7, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 30th Family aboard L'Amitié with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; BRDR, 2:221, 487 (ASM-2, 65), her marriage record, calls her Julia Geneveva DANTIN of Nantes, France, says her husband was "of the Parish of St.-Martin, Diocese of Lion), gives her but not his parents' names, calls her mother Juana GEMMIU, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Luis DANTIN (her father) & Alexos LEVRON.  

04.  Wall of Names, 40 (pl. 10L), calls him Louis DENTIN, & lists him with his wife, 4 daughters, & 2 stepdaughters; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Reine_d_Espagne.htm>, Family No. 7, gives his father's dit, his mother's name, & the names of 8 of his siblings, & shows that in the crossing to St.-Malo in 1758, he lost his widowed mother & 7 of 8 siblings, that only younger brother Barthélemy, age 10, survived the crossing with him; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 254-55, Family No. 312, calls him Louis DANTIN, says he was born in c1745 but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names, says his father was born in 1702 "at Paris," calls his mother Marguerite LA SONDE, says she was born in c1716 but gives no birthplace, says her parents were Marc LA SONDE & Judith PETITPAS [an Acadian family], that she married his father in c1741 but gives no place of marriage, that she was in the Île Royale census of 1752, that she died at sea in 1758, includes the names & information on 9 siblings, including Gabriel, born in c1742 but gives no birthplace, died at sea during crossing to France, 1758, Jeanne, born in c1743 but gives no birthplace, Barthélemy, born in c1748 but gives no birthplace, Joseph, born in c1750, died at sea, Marguerite, no birth date or birthplace, died at sea, Michel, no birth date or birthplace, died at sea, Jean, no birth date or birthplace, died at sea, Anne, no birth date or birthplace, died at sea, & Agathe, no birth date or birthplace, died at sea, says that in 1752, he, his parents, & siblings Gabriel, Louis, Barthélemy, Joseph, & Jeanne were residents of Port-Toulouse on Île Royale, that in the fall of 1758 "the family was deported to France on the ship, Le Reine d'Espange, & that only Louis, fils & Barthélemy survived the crossing; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 255-56, Family No. 313, calls him Louis DANTIN, says he was born in c1745 "in the parish of St.-Pierre of Port-Toulouse, diocese of Québec," gives his parents' names, details his first marriage, calls his first wife Jeanne GESMIER, says she was born 20 May 1746 & baptized next day, Tressaint, gives her parents' names, details his second marriage, says his second wife was born in c1743 but gives no birthplace, gives her parents' names & the name of her first husband, includes the birth/baptismal & death/burial records of son, from his first wife, Louis DANTIN (twin), born & baptized 4 Aug 1768, St.-André-des-Eaux, godson of René ALIX & Anne FAVERAUX, died age 12 days 15 Aug 1768, buried next day, St.-André-des-Eaux, daughter, from his first wife, Jeanne DANTIN (twin), born & baptized 4 Aug 1768, St.-André-des-Eaux, goddaughter of Augustin GESMIER & Marguerite Brind JORG, son, by his first wife, Louis DANTIN, born 15 Dec 1770, la Ville de la Desvrie, baptized next day, St.-André-des-Eaux, godson of Jacques LE MEE & Marie MAUFRAIS, died age 3 mos. 19 Mar 1771, buried next day, St.-André-des-Eaux, & son, by his first wife, Florian-Gilles DANTIN, born 18 May 1772, la Ville de La Desvrie, baptized next day, St.-André-des-Eaux, godson of Florian LERMITE & Gillette GESMIER, says that he & brother Barthélemy disembarked at St.-Malo "on November 17, 1758 from the ship, La Reine d'Espagne," & that he resided at St.-Tual from 1758-66, near Bécherel from 1766-67, & at St.-André-des-Eaux from 1767-72; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 29, Family No. 60, calls him Louis DANTIN, says he was born in c1745 "in the parish of St.-Pierre of Port-Toulouse, diocese of Québec," gives his parents' names, calls his mother Marguerite LASONDE, details his first marriage, calls his first wife Jeanne GESMIER, says she was born 20 May 1746 & baptized next day, Tressaint, gives her parents' names, includes the birth/baptismal record of daughter Marie-Anne, born 16 Mar 1774, baptized next day, St.-Jean-L'Evangeliste, Châtellerault, goddaughter of Pierre RICHARD & Euphrosine BARRILLOT, wife of Francois BOUDROT, "all Acadians," & details the family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 49-50, Family No. 96, calls him Louis DANTIN, says he was born in c1742 "in the parish of Saint-Pierre of Port-Souze, diocese of Québec," gives his parents' names, calls his mother Marguerite LA SONDE, says he was a joiner, says he married his first wife in c1767 but gives no place of marriage, calls he Jeanne GEMIER, says she was born in c1745 but gives no birthplace nor her parents' names, details his second marriage, says his second wife was born in c1743 but gives no birthplace, gives her parents' names & her first husbands name, includes the birth/baptismal records of daughter, by his first wife, Judith, baptized 12 Jun 1778, Ste.-Croix, Nantes, &, by his first wife, Pérrine, baptized 30 Aug 1781, Ste.-Croix, Nantes, & details the family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s as well as its voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 72-73, calls him Louis DENTIN, menuisier, age 38, on the embarkation list, Luis DANTIN, on the debarkation list, & Louis DANTIN, house carpenter, age 38, on the complete listing, says he was in the 30th Family aboard L'Amitié with his second wife, 4 daughters, & 2 stepdaughters, &, calling him Louis DANTIN, details his second marriage, including his & his second wife's parents' names, says they were married in 1784 but gives no place of marriage, & lists the implements the Spanish gave him after he reached LA; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:170 (Thib.Ct.Hse.: Succ.: year 1827), his death/succession record, calls him Louis DANTIN Sr., gives his death date but not his age when he died, calls his wives Jeanne GEMIER, Hélène DOUARON[sic], & Marguerite BRAUX, says his children were Marie Carmelite m. Antoine BAILLE, Anne DANTIN m. Pierre HACHÉ, Louis Francois, Joseph, Fabien, Charles, Jean Baptiste, Marguerite, Marie Louise, d. Modeste, & Jeanne m. Martin PITRE, & gives the date of his succession inventory; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:170 (Thib.Ct.Hse.: Succ.: year 1830), record of the public sale of his property, calls him Louis DANTIN.  

Church records in BRDR, 2:220-21, insist that Louis DANTIN was from Acadia, & he was.  He was born at Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, now Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, which was part of greater Acadia. 

What happened to son Florian-Gilles & daughter Pérrine?  Robichaux, in his study of the Acadians in France, did not find death/burial records for them, nor did they accompany the family to LA in 1785, when they would have been 13 and 4, too young to remain in France on their own, so they must have died by then.  

Louis, fils's children were from his first & third wives; he had none by his second wife, to whom he was married for less than 2 years.  She--the second wife--was 38 when she died.  Did she die in childbirth?  

05.  Wall of Names, 40 (pl. 10L), calls her Marie-Anne [DENTIN], & lists her with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 29, Family No. 60, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Marie-Anne DANTIN, gives her parents' names, says she was goddaughter of Pierre RICHARD & Euphrosine BARRILLOT, wife of Francois BOUDROT, "all Acadians," & details the family's participation in the Liegne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 49-50, Family No. 96, calls her Marie [DANTIN], gives her parents' names, & details the family's participation in the Liegne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s as well as its voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 72-73, calls her Marie DENTIN, age 12, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marie DANTIN, his [Louis DANTIN's] daughter, age 12, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 30th Family aboard L'Amitié with her father, stepmother, 3 sisters, & 2 stepsisters; BRDR, 2:221, 360 (ASC-2, 51), her marriage record, calls her Mariana DANTIN, calls her husband Guillermo Belloni EVERE (HÉBERT), does not give her or his parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Louis DANTIN (her father) & Estevan ÉBER (her father-in-law); Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:170 (Thib.Ch.: v.1, #507), her death/burial record, calls her Marie DANTIN m. Guillaume Béllony HÉBERT, gives her parents' names, calls her mother Janne GENIER, & says she was age 58 when she died.  

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